He pointed out of the scuttle, and Hythe following his gaze saw the fracture that the "Vorwartz" bow had caused. Her comparatively straight stem had cut nearly five feet into the upper platform of the "Aphrodite" in addition to making a vertical gash nearly fifteen feet in length in the stricken vessel's side. As a result the whole of the centre compartment had become a dead weight, and the buoyancy of the submarine being imparted only by the fore and aft compartments the tendency of the whole vessel was to sag amidships. Already the upper platform was curving ominously. It would not take much more strain to buckle the "Aphrodite." Although her steel plating was badly cracked and jagged, the restronium sheathing was severed as evenly as if made of wax. This, no doubt, accounted for the fact that the inrush of water at the moment of impact was comparatively slight, and in consequence the men stationed in the midship compartment were able to make good their retreat long before the water completely filled the space between the two principal transverse bulkheads.
"Let her down gently, Carnon!" ordered Devoran, as the "Aphrodite" passed the broad belt of coral and a clear sandy bottom was visible on all sides.
The quartermaster in the fore conning-tower knew his business thoroughly, and with hardly a bump the submarine settled on the bed of the Red Sea.
"All ready to let go?" asked the chief officer, and from the for'ard compartment came the alert reply that everything was in order.
"It is almost like abandoning one's ship," remarked Hythe.
"Hardly so bad as that," replied Devoran. "But all the same we are shedding a large portion of her. Would you mind standing by that lever, and when I give the word push it hard down. No, not just yet. We will wait and watch the fore part shake itself clear."
It was indeed a strange sight. At one moment Hythe saw the slightly buckling deck and the fore conning-tower, the upper platform, except for the fracture caused by the collision, being all in one piece. The next instant the whole of the bow compartment, including the conning-tower, gave a sudden bound and darted upwards towards the surface. Hythe could see the bulkhead with its watertight doors securely fastened, and the bright copper electrical contacts with their surrounding belt of insulated material. It reminded him of a salmon cut clean in halves.
Already the ballast tanks of the freed section were being filled, till, the upward motion checked, the structure slowly sank and settled once more in the bottom of the sea a few yards to the left of the remaining portion of the submarine. There, cut off from all communication with the still intact after part, the compartment had to remain, till, worm-like, the third section was detached from the damaged portion and united to form a smaller yet still efficient submarine.
Kenwyn had meanwhile opened the scuttle in the bottom plates of the vessel in order to guide her on her descent. Since the after portion alone possessed propelling machinery it was necessary that the fore part should be disconnected first.
"Down with it!" exclaimed Devoran, at the same time operating a switch. Hythe instantly depressed the lever as he had been instructed. The motion following the action was similar to that experienced in the sudden rising of a lift.